Union List of Artist Names

Submitted by Barbara Gilles on Tue, 2010-04-27 10:16
“ULAN is a structured vocabulary containing around 127,000 records, including 375,000 names and biographical and bibliographic information about artists and architects, including a wealth of variant names, pseudonyms, and language variants."
General information
Vocabulary alternative name or acronym: 

ULAN

Vocabulary type: 
Thesaurus
Author or Editor: 
Patricia Harpring, Managing Editor, Getty Vocabulary Program
Update frequency: 
“The information is constantly updated in the Getty Vocabulary Program's production databases. The updated data is published on the Web at the beginning of each month.”
Available formats: 
XML UTF-8 and relational tables
Vocabulary URL: 

http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/ulan/

Vocabulary Sample URL: 

http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/overview_... (pp. 18ff). Sample records available for download at http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/download....

Was vocabulary created as a course project: 
No
Scope and Usage
Languages: 

Multiple; primarily English

Major subjects covered: 

Artists; architects; art; architecture

Minor subjects covered: 

Material culture

Purpose: 

“The ... Getty vocabularies are intended to provide terminology and other information about the objects, artists, concepts, and places important to various disciplines that specialize in art, architecture and material culture.”

Used By: 

“The primary users of the Getty vocabularies include museums, art libraries, archives, visual resource collection catalogers, bibliographic projects concerned with art, researchers in art and art history, and the information specialists who are dealing with the needs of these users. In addition, a significant number of users of the Getty vocabularies are students or members of the general public.”

Related vocabularies: 

Art & Architecture Thesaurus

Vocabulary characteristics
Type of display : 
Hierarchy
Full term records
Description of overall structure: 

“Even though the structure is relatively flat, the ULAN is constructed as a hierarchical database; its trees branch from a root called Top of the ULAN hierarchies (Subject_ID: 500000001); it currently has three published facets: Person, Corporate Body, and Unknown Artist. Entities in the Person and Unknown Artist facet typically have no children. Entities in the Corporate Body facet may branch into trees. There may be multiple broader contexts, making the ULAN structure polyhierarchical.”

Type of terms: 

Names of artists; names of groups (“corporate bodies”) involved in the production of art. “The ULAN includes proper names and associated information about artists. Artists may be either individuals (persons) or groups of individuals working together (corporate bodies). Artists in the ULAN generally represent creators involved in the conception or production of visual arts and architecture. Some performance artists are included (but typically not actors, dancers, or other performing artists). Repositories and some donors are included as well.”

Relationship types: 
Equivalence (Primary/variant terms or Preferred/non-preferred)
Hierarchical (Broader/narrower terms)
Associative (Related terms)
Number of terms: 
375,000
Number of preferred terms: 
127,000
Terms and Conditions
Availability: 
“The Getty vocabularies are made available via the Web to support limited research and cataloging efforts only. Licensing is required for more extensive use of these tools.” Also available as part of a collection management system or other information system from one of the following vendors: Adlib Information Systems, Cuadra Associates, Gallery Systems, KE Software/KE EMu, Luna Imaging, Questor Systems, Vernon Systems, Willoughby Associates, or WebChoir."
Licensing Options: 
Companies and institutions interested in regular or extensive use of the Getty vocabularies should explore licensing options by sending an email to vocab@getty.edu.
Import/download instructions : 

At http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/download.html

Provider
Vocabulary provider name: 
The Getty Vocabulary Program, The J. Paul Getty Trust
Provider URL: 

http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/

Provider contact details: 

vocab@getty.edu

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